On Italy Republic Day, we remember that period in the Club's history, when an icon of the game arrived at Filbert Street. Mancini was a multiple winner of Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana, also lifting the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
Over spells with Sampdoria and Lazio, the skilful forward had also scooped the Italian Footballer of the Year award and represented the great Italian national team on 36 occasions. That tally would have been greater if not for Roberto Baggio, Gianfranco Zola, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero.
Italian football was in its pomp and Mancini was a leading light - albeit one entering the final days of his glittering playing career.
Peter Taylor, the Foxes manager, was also England's Under-21s manager. He stepped into the breach, for one game, to manage the senior side after Kevin Keegan's departure, leading to Sven-Göran Eriksson's appointment with the Three Lions. Mancini had been a player-coach for Eriksson at Lazio.
It's those links which led to the Italian's arrival at Leicester City - a team admired but often slapped with the 'underdogs' tag at the turn of the millennium. Under Martin O'Neill, City had lifted two League Cups in the late 1990s, playing in Europe twice, and also finishing in the Premier League's top 10.
It seemed, to many, that Taylor was building on that legacy with the Foxes challenging at the upper end of the table come Christmas in 2000. Leicester had a real chance to qualify for Europe, possibly even the UEFA Champions League, via their league position in the Premier League.
Perhaps, when coupled with Eriksson's recommendation, that shot at history is what attracted Mancini. In mid-January, the newspapers had the scoop. City were forced to release a statement to address the speculation ahead of making perhaps the biggest transfer announcement in their history.
A club spokesman simply said: "There are a few details to be finalised but Mancini will be unveiled at a news conference."
That news conference, staged at Leicester City's Belvoir Drive training ground, attracted journalists from far and wide. It was not staged in the usual, modest press room, but in the gymnasium, to accommodate the world's media.
Speaking to the media that day, Taylor said: "Of course, Roberto knows that he is 36 and that I am looking for his football knowledge, not his legs. There will be enough young legs around him to do the running so that should be all right.
"He also understands that his role will be to help bring on the younger players and pass on experience to the strikers. I am optimistic that this move could work out very well and he will definitely be in the 16 for Saturday's match with Arsenal."
With a bag full of VHS tapes of recent City matches, Mancini headed home after his first training session with his new team-mates - a group he familiarised himself with using photos provided by the Club. As Taylor promised, Mancini was in the matchday squad for Arsenal - as a starter.
There was some uncertainty in the media about the length of his loan deal at Filbert Street. It was either a month or until the end of the season. Unfortunately for the Blue Army, many of whom had already emblazoned 'MANCINI 10' on the reverse of their shirts, the Italian wouldn't even see out a month.
He made five appearances for the Foxes - four in the league and one in the FA Cup - adding a sprinkle of stardust to City's attacking play. Mancini might not have found the net for Leicester, but the stylish flicks, insightful through-balls and words of wisdom to younger players definitely made their mark.
Mancini, who'd been tipped to replace Eriksson at Lazio, ultimately returned to Italy to take charge of Fiorentina just one month after arriving at Filbert Street. It was a brief but memorable stay in English football. For any City fans in attendance for those five games, they can still say: 'I was there'.